Rat Bastard Days
by bossy
Summary: It wasn't easy to get under Trafalgar Law's skin. He'd had plenty of dealings with other rat bastard pirates in the Grand Line but there was one in particular that he can't stand. And another that he would do anything to protect. And those two pirates, Law knew, could never meet, or it would be disastrous. Law'd die before he'd let that happen. Follow-up to The Last Time I Saw You.


**A/N:** If you have not read "The Last Time I Saw You," go read it now. This is a sort of follow-up to it. I know it doesn't really jive with the canon that's happening in the current manga, but hey. I wrote this for entertainment purposes only and hopefully, you'll be entertained.

* * *

**Rat-Bastard Days**

Trafalgar Law sat lazily sprawled in a chair counting the ceiling tiles while some stupid Marine, Vice-Admiral Who-gives-a-fuck, droned on. It was the quarterly meeting for the Shichibukai. Or whatever. Law didn't pay much attention to such stupid things. He just showed up when it was 'required' of him.

When Law had originally ventured to become one of the Shichibukai, he had thought it as simple as trouncing other pirates that the Marines wanted once in a while, and the rest of the time doing as they pleased. But this bureaucratic bullshit was just annoying. And time-consuming.

"Lame," Law finally interrupted. Vice-Admiral Whats-his-name sputtered at the disruption.

"I beg your pardon, Law," he grumbled pompously. "But the…"

Didn't matter what the man said. It all sounded like 'blah blah blah ba-ba-blah' to Law.

"Get to the good stuff," Law interrupted again. "Who are we going after?"

Boa Hancock sighed dramatically and Doflamingo sniggered.

"Agreed, shithead," Doflamingo goaded the Vice-Admiral. "Get on with the plunder list and stop wasting our time."

Mihawk and Kuma remained silent, but their full attention had been called and fixed on the Marine Vice-Admiral now. The man became nervous and cleared his throat two or three times before he could speak again.

"Er, well," he stammered nervously, "as always, our primary targets are the Yonko pirates—"

"Boring," Doflamingo sing-songed, leaning forward onto the table from his previously lounging position. "Give us something new."

"There isn't anything new!" Vice-Admiral Something-or-other snapped. He had apparently spent the last of his patience, and annoyance had outweighed his fear. "And you have no one but yourselves to blame!"

Doflamingo stood up and immediately, the Vice-Admiral cowered backwards. He only got two steps, though before he suddenly stood ram-rod straight. Doflamingo sauntered up to him with an air of dangerousness. He leaned closed to Vice-Admiral So-and-so's face, and the closer he got, the wider the Vice-Admiral's eyes became.

"Tell me," Doflamingo whispered, "how this is somehow my fault."

Vice-Admiral Pussy, as Law now thought of him, began sniveling. "Th—the bounties wanted by the World Government are the same! Not since the execution at Marineford have any of the top-priority bounties been captured. It's still the Yonko and the Big Ten. The Mugiwaras and the Kid Pirates—and—"

Suddenly, Vice-Admiral Pussy bent at his waist—the wrong way. Cracks were heard as he nearly made a perfect upside-down L-shape. Law was growing increasingly tired of the man's whining.

"The Mugiwaras? The others?" Doflamingo repeated, leaning casually against the Vice-Admiral's misformed body. "Again, how are they _my fault_?"

With the last two words, Vice-Admiral Pussy jerked farther back and he released an agonized scream.

"For over two years," the pussy choked out eventually. "They've remained uncaptured and—"

Doflamingo lashed out and kicked the backwards-bent man hard. He went careening into a wall, cracking it from floor to ceiling.

"_They_ are fun," Doflamingo responded. "You and your pathetic kind—the Marines—your petty issues with them are not. Why would I capture them when they are the only people in this tedium-diseased world worth keeping around?"

He had a point, Law had to admit, but Law was tired of Doflamingo's show of bravado. Sighing in boredom, Law got up from his own seat and walked over to the mangled Marine. With a flick of the wrist, the Marine's chest split in two. A weakly beating heart was in the center.

Partially out of cruelty, partially annoyance, but admittedly also out of pity, Law reached down and yanked the heart out of the Marine's chest. The body began convulsing as it usually did before the brain went dead due to lack of blood oxygen, but the heart only beat twice before going still in his hand.

Why a heart stopped beating before the body gave out was a mystery to Law. He really thought that in a man, a real man anyway, it would be the other way around. The body would stop twitching before the heart beat its last.

"Are you insane?"

Law looked up at Boa Hancock. She had somehow managed to screech and hiss at the same time.

"I've been called that," Law shrugged. "What of it?"

"You've killed Vice-Admiral Kaosen!" she screech-hissed again. Law shrugged at her.

"I've killed hundreds of people," he dismissed. "And Vice-Admiral Pussy-Pants or whatever doesn't rank all that high in my 'Who-gives-a-shit-o-meter'."

Hancock was struck by his action, though, and could only stare at him in incredulous awe. Doflamingo laughed whole-heartedly though.

"I like you," Doflamingo told him, slapping him on the shoulder. "I hope they don't decide to revoke you for this."

Revoke him? Law looked at the still heart in his hands. Revoke him over a lily-livered ass-pipe like this?

"He is not the first to kill a Marine," Mihawk put forth quietly. "As I recall, you and I have done the same, Donquixote."

Doflamingo laughed again. "We didn't kill Vice-Admirals! But as you say, this is not a first."

Kuma stood. "Sakazuki comes."

The air in the room changed palpably.

Doflamingo went to sit back down in his chair and Law thought about doing the same, but the heart in his hand was unavoidable evidence of what he'd done. There really was no point in trying to avoid it.

"_What_ is the meaning of this?"

Law didn't move. Very few men in the world had an aura that set him frozen in his place and unfortunately, Sakazuki was one. It wasn't necessarily a haki, but it was an imposing feeling that left Law unable to move as freely as he'd like.

Loud, solid footsteps slowly ambled towards him. Law set his eyes at the body on the floor. It was better not to look at Sakazuki and show that he was intimidated by him. At least this way, he could show a degree of indifference.

"He was dying," Law stated. "I helped his passage."

Sakazuki shifted to look down at the mutilated body on the floor.

"_How_ was he dying?"

Law paused a moment. "Massive internal bleeding."

"Caused by?"

"Unknown trauma," Law supplied. There was a long and strenuous silence that followed. Law knew that Sakazuki was waiting for one of them to crack and reveal what really happened. No one was going to, not unless they wanted to make an enemy of Doflamingo rather than simply a barely maintained neutral party.

Finally, though, not getting the answer from any of them, Sakazuki went to his most likely source for the truth.

"Tell me, Kuma," Sakazuki spoke, "what caused Vice-Admiral Kaosen's massive internal bleeding?"

Law felt the tension in the room skyrocket. Kuma was essentially unable to lie to Sakazuki. It was built into his cyborg programming. This, Law thought, should be interesting.

"A Devil-fruit," Kuma answered in his monotone voice.

"And whose, prey-tell, Devil-fruit was it?" Sakazuki inquired, glancing around the room in turn. The only two who did not possess such a fruit were Kuma and Mihawk, and Sakazuki pointedly ignored them. Doflamingo smiled at him recklessly, and Sakazuki narrowed his eyes. No one actually knew if the freaky things Doflamingo could do were a Devil-fruit. It was a good chance, though.

"The name of the assailant remains unknown," Kuma recited. "He uses multiple aliases and covers many fields of debauchery—"

"Cut the crap, Kuma!" Sakazuki spat. "Was it Law?"

"No," Kuma answered. "Though Trafalgar Law did kill Vice-Admiral Kaosen, he did not cause the injuries."

Standing so close to Sakazuki, Law could hear the man's teeth grinding.

"This _will not_ happen again," Sakazuki growled at all of them. "Ever. If it does, I do not care who the culprit is, I will authorize a Buster Call on each of you and your ships. Is that understood?"

Several yeses were murmured unenthusiastically. Sakazuki gave them all one last look of death before walking out of the room. It returned to silence for a few minutes.

"Well," Doflamingo broke the ice, "that could have gone worse."

Hancock hissed at him.

"Relax, fork-tongue," Doflamingo spat. "He said ships, not islands."

Hancock did not seem to relax in the least. "Maybe next time we should just tell him what happened and avoid this fiasco."

Doflamingo stood from his chair again and leaned her way. "You mean tell them who killed him? Dearest, for all you know, the next time it could be you who does it. Care to find out?"

Hancock's own hand came up and slapped her across the face. Hard. Law watched in fascination. It was like watching the clash of the sea against the Red Line. The Red Line would never move and inevitably the sea would relent, but in truth, the display was always entrancing.

Hancock would never be able to touch Doflamingo, and he had not one ounce of lust for the woman as far as Law had seen. His sadistic nature constantly picked at Hancock, enjoying to see her angry or in pain. He'd use his freaky body-control thing to torture her a bit until—

"Enough, Donquixote," Mihawk interrupted, right on schedule. "There are few enough of us as is. We do not need to reduce our ranks again, especially through internal feuding."

"The only good woman is a silent one," Doflamingo muttered, but gave up the confrontation. "It seems we have adjourned. Until next time, my pretties."

Doflamingo and is obscenely puffy pink coat strode out of the room. Kuma was next, scooping up the remains of Admiral-whatever-his-name-was. Still fuming, Hancock left next, murmuring obscenities under her breath the whole time and caressing her cheek gingerly.

Law intended to go next, shouldering his nodatchi. The guys would be downstairs and waiting for him.

"Do you ever regret it?"

Law looked over at Mihawk. The man hadn't spoken to him specifically since he'd joined the Shichibukai. But then again, the two of them hadn't been alone before either, as far as Law could remember.

"What?" Law responded.

"Do you ever regret acting on impulse?" Mihawk clarified. "It tends to lead you in the wrong direction."

What this son of a bitch wanted Law to say, he didn't know. But Law'd be damned before he gave him what he wanted.

"Not once," Law answered. "I trust my instincts."

"As you did when you were a child?"

Law's muscles were beginning to clench. This man should stop speaking now. Don't go there. Just don't.

"The day the Goza pirates came to Nestral?" Mihawk continued. Law tensed even further.

Nestral. His home town. The place where he'd lived happily for those few years with his mother and sister. Until the Goza pirates came…

"Shut the fuck up," Law hissed. "You don't know a damned thing about me. Don't pretend to. Rat bastard."

Law had intended that to be it. He was going to stroll out of the meeting room and back down to his crew and sink their sub as soon as the airlocks were tight. But Mihawk didn't seem to want to allow it. He followed at a few paces behind Law.

"Because if you had done as you were told," he continued as Law stepped to the doorway, "she'd still be alive."

Law ripped his nodatchi from its sheath and slashed at the man. Anger. Pain. Hatred. They were all behind the intensity of the swing, but Mihawk caught it with a tiny dagger.

"Fuck you!" Law yelled. "Just fuck you! You fucking bastard! You were with him! That son of a bitch who made those pirates come! If he'd stayed the fuck away, we'd have been fine! So fuck you!"

Mihawk remained unmoving while Law's own muscles began to shake from the intensity of holding his sword against him. Law knew that swordsmanship-wise, he stood no chance against Mihawk. But he wanted to get his point across anyway. It just seemed that the longer he held his sword, the more difficult it became for Law to keep from submitting.

"That son of a bitch," Mihawk slowly repeated. "I assume you are referring to—"

"Rat bastard," Law interrupted. "That's his name. Because that's what he is."

The strain was starting to become too much. One of Law's feet slipped back an inch. Then the other. But he had to get his point across.

"He's not my father," Law hissed through clenched teeth. "That Red-Haired Pirate bastard is not my father."

Law dropped to his knees from the pressure, but wouldn't withdraw his nodatchi.

"And you can tell him that," Law panted.

"Oh, there is no doubt in my mind that he knows that," Mihawk answered. "You are of little interest to him. You always were. His interest now lies within the Mugiwara Pirates."

Law faltered in his grip of the nodatchi and fell backwards into the floor with the strength Mihawk had used. Using with a tiny fucking dagger. How humiliating. But Law didn't pay attention to that thought for long. He'd said Mugiwara Pirates.

"And what…the hell… would he care…" Law panted, "about some fucking pirates. Some…crazy ass pirates?"

Mihawk smiled. It was a sardonic half-smile. "Haven't you figured it out by now?"

Law felt a little sick. Surely he couldn't mean…?

"That boy," Mihawk continued. "That spectacle Luffy. He's replaced you. Luffy is his new favorite."

Law let go of the breath he'd been holding. So he didn't know. Good. The rat bastard needed to stay away from her. But what had Mihawk meant by new favorite?

"Does that make you jealous?" Mihawk asked. Whatever emotions Law was giving away in his face were giving Mihawk the impression that he was jealous. Law took a few deep breaths and replaced the emotions written across his face with the usual half smirk mask.

"Hardly," Law spat, getting up and resheathing his nodatchi. "Good fucking riddance."

This time, Law did walk out of the meeting room and towards the stairs. It was silent behind him, but when Law turned slightly, he saw Mihawk just a few paces behind him again.

"Very interesting boy," Mihawk conversed. "I was intrigued by him myself. And his crew. Their swordsman especially, when I first came across them. But at that time, I had not seen _all_ of them."

So what? Law just wanted to be within the depths of his submarine.

"I wonder what he makes of the boy's navigator?"

Law stumbled on the stairs, but regained his footing quickly. _This_ was what Mihawk was really after, Law knew.

"Don't give two shits," Law answered, seeing his crew ahead waiting for him. "I don't give two shits what that rat bastard thinks."

"You should," Mihawk mused. "I have heard that the Yonko Pirate Shanks is intending to meet up with his young protégé. Very soon, in fact."

Law tried not to let the frustration show. "Good for them."

"I wonder what he'll do when he sees her face to face," Mihawk pondered. "When he can't deny that it's her; that the photo was tampered with or that they just look similar. I wonder if he'll tell her—"

"He won't get near her," Law vowed, stopping a bit away from his crew. "And if he tries, I'll kill him myself."

Law didn't have to look behind him to know Mihawk was smiling in amusement. The bastard was absolutely radiating it.

"Captain?" Bepo called, poised to approach.

"Get ready to set out," Law ordered, resuming his trek. "We're getting out of this God-forsaken place as fast as we can."

This time, Mihawk did not follow him.

.o0o.

It had been a few days since the meeting at Mariejois. Law had told his men about killing the Vice-Admiral and they'd all hooted and guffawed loudly. Even through the warning of Sakazuki's that Law relayed.

"You sure showed those old beatniks how it's done," laughed Shachi. "Did they shit bricks?"

"Not exactly," Law relented. "But in Hancock's case, I think she came out of her skin a little."

More hoots and laughter. No one seemed to take it seriously. Not until Law announced he was tracking the Red-Hair Pirates. They seemed to all think he was kidding at first. And then, when he told them to get on it already, they all seemed to understand how serious he was.

"The Red Hair Pirates?" Penguin repeated. "Why?"

"Because those whiny bitches at Headquarters think we need to do something about it," Law answered. "They think all we do is wander around and drink without doing any real work."

Penguin and Shachi had a hard time keeping a straight face, but at least Bepo and Jean Bart could remain composed in front of the rest of the crew. Law cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he ground out, "we will be tracking the Red Hair Pirates. Now get on it."

Jean Bart began barking orders at the rest of the crew. Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo crowded around Law, hoping for more information.

"Captain, are we really going to attack the Red Hair Pirates?" Shachi asked.

"Not unless we're provoked," Law amended.

"Why would they provoke us?" Penguin asked.

"They're probably not going to," Law guessed. "But for the time being, we're following them. That's it. No more questions."

Law left the bridge and went towards his room. Bepo followed him of course, and shut the door behind him while Law put up his nodatchi.

"Captain?" Bepo prodded.

"I was tipped off that the rat bastard is going to contact the Mugiwara Pirates," Law told him. "I won't let it happen. I won't."

Bepo was quiet while Law paced the tiny space of his room in agitation.

"That rat bastard won't get near her," Law vowed. "I won't let him. He's not going to suck her into that disaster that he calls a life like he did my mother."

Bepo nodded in understanding. "Would it not make more sense to track the Mugiwara's?"

Law shook his head. "That moron Luffy is utterly enamored by the rat bastard and wouldn't listen."

"Do you suppose Sh—"

"The rat bastard doesn't matter to me in the slightest in what he thinks," Law interrupted. "Let him fucking follow me down to the ocean floor and ask. From outside."

It wasn't really Bepo's fault, and Law shouldn't have been taking his temper out on him, but Law was aggravated. He didn't think too clearly when he was irritated. Bepo knew it, though and let him be.

.o0o.

A few days later, Bepo had news.

"They're directly above us," he reported. "They seem to be mostly wandering wherever the wind blows them without any real direction."

Yeah, that sounded about right. The rat bastard just loitered around and drank when he had nothing better to do.

"When he moves, we'll know," Law figured. "Keep an eye out."

.o0o.

After a week of lingering, Law wondered if they were wasting their time.

"They should have docked by now," Law muttered. "They've got to be out of alcohol. That fucker drinks like a fish. Take her up. I wanna see that ship."

If no one liked the idea of simply following the Red Hair Pirates, they were even less happy to be surfacing within shooting distance of them. Jean Bart made it so though, and Law climbed up to open the hatch. Impatient, he opened it a little soon and the ocean water spilled onto his shins and ankles.

Law ignored it and walked out on his short deck to stare at the ship that was aft of them. For sure, it was the rat bastard's ship, but he could tell at the sight of it that he wasn't there. There were several useless asses wandering around deck, but by their positions and their lack of notoriety, Law could tell that the four most important members were absent.

"Fuck," Law muttered, climbing through the hatch again. "Bepo! They aren't here! We gotta find the Mugiwaras!"

.o0o.

Law wouldn't admit it, not even to Bepo, but he kept a close eye on the Mugiwara crew's whereabouts. He just felt like he had to know. He had told himself it was just being mindful of his enemy's proximity. But truthfully, he worried almost constantly about the navigator.

He didn't think she was safe with the idiot and that crew. Pirates and Marines alike gunned viciously for the Mugiwaras and it scared him to death that someday she was going to get caught in the crossfire and he'd lose her for good this time.

Nami. Tsu. His estranged sister. She was so important to him, and she had no idea of it.

Well, Law'd be damned if he was going to allow the rat bastard to go see her. Talk to her. Take her.

"When the hell will we get there?" Law cried suddenly, startling those that were in the mess hall with him. Only Bepo was unfazed.

"Two days, Captain," he answered, clearing away his tray.

Two days. Two days too long. The fuckin' bastard could have found her by now. He could be lounging on the grassy deck sitting next to her, spinning a web full of lies to convince her to—

Law slapped away his own tray of food and stalked out of the mess hall. The only sound accompanying him was the sound of his own footsteps.

He had to stop thinking about it. It didn't do any good. Besides, the likelihood of the shithead getting to the Mugiwaras before him was slim. Law could travel beneath most obstacles, while the bastard would have to face or go around them. He would make it.

He'd just be impossible to deal with until then.

.o0o.

Finally. Fuckin' finally.

The Thousand Sunny was directly above them. But now that he was here, Law didn't really know what to do. Chug along underneath them and wait for the bastard to show up? Forewarn them that if they met up with the bastard, he'd be forced to blow them out of the water?

Law stared blankly at the blob that was the ship above them on the sonar.

"Orders, Captain?" Bepo prompted.

"Uh, maintain this course," Law provided, grasping at strings. "Watch for any, um, unusual movement."

Several men looked up at him incredulously, as if to say, 'Unusual movement? This is the Mugiwara crew. _They_ are unusual.'

Law ignored the looks.

"Might I suggest an informal meeting?" Bepo tried. "It is unlikely that the Red Hair Pirates would approach if we were in party with the Mugiwaras, isn't it?"

Thank his lucky fucking stars that Bepo could think right now, because Law was drawing a complete blank.

"Yeah," Law agreed. "Good idea. Take her up."

With Bepo trailing behind him, Law went up to the hatch.

"As to not alarm them, perhaps it would be best if you went alone first," Bepo suggested. Law paused momentarily to give Bepo a puzzled look. "Two or more could look a little…confrontational."

Law sighed in exasperation and moved on. Bepo was right again, of course. It was just that Law sometimes forgot that he and Luffy were on opposite sides of the 'war.' Hell, he even forgot that he and Luffy were technically adversaries.

"Fine," Law agreed. "I'll go up first."

When he stepped out of the hatch, the aft of Thousand Sunny greeted him. Apparently, Jean Bart had decided to bring them up behind Thousand Sunny rather than next to them. That wasn't going to help the 'social call' pretense any. Regardless, he turned to face Bepo as the giant white polar bear followed him out.

"A leg up, Captain?" Bepo offered, lacing his paws together. Law put a boot in his paws and with a whoosh, Law was flying up in the air and flipping to land silently on the upper deck of Thousand Sunny. After a few moments, he heard the ocean splash as his sub sank again, but ignored it in light of scouting the deck. No one was up here, as far as he could tell. But he could hear voices close to the grassy deck area.

"But Sanji! I'm hungry!"

"Wait for dinner, you dolt!"

"Hey! You almost stepped on me!"

"Sit down! All of you! Or I'll toss you overboard myself!"

That voice. It was Nami. The ruckus died down a little and Law cautiously approached the railing. He could see the women lounging on some chairs close to a small table sporting an umbrella. The blonde pervert fluttered around them, and the afro skeleton was stalking them from afar. Chopper, the idiot and the sharpshooter were in a small grouping in the middle of the grass. The shipwright with the metal hands wasn't in his sight range, but Law saw some empty cola bottles just beyond his view.

That only left the swordsman unaccounted for. Law could sneak down into one of the rooms and—

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Ah. The swordsman. He had somehow snuck up behind Law without his hearing it.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping in the shade somewhere?" Law asked, standing to face him.

"Had to take a piss," Zoro answered. "Why are you here?'

Law snorted. "Don't tell me you got lost on your own ship looking for the main deck."

"Listen droopy eyes," Zoro said, "you tell me why you're here or I'll toss you overboard."

"Who're you calling droopy eyes, cyclops," Law returned. "You're the one who sleeps all the time. And maybe I'm here because I enjoy your shining company. Ass."

Zoro was retorting again, but Law caught sight of a small approaching ship behind him.

"That son of a bitch," Law cursed, recognizing Mihawk's ship. No wonder the bastard had known about it. He was taking them straight to her. "It's them."

Zoro looked behind to what Law saw, and Law decided he couldn't waste anymore time. He jumped over the railing and landed hard on the grassy deck, startling the others. There were a lot of 'what're you doing here's that he ignored. He glided up to the lawn chairs in a few steps and grabbed the arm of the astonished navigator.

"Get up," he told them. "You're about to have visitors."

They all looked at him a little dumbly, clearly not understanding that he wasn't indicating about himself.

"Not me, you idiots!" he growled. "Aft of the ship."

The others all got up and bolted towards the rear upper deck, but Law kept his hold on the navigator. She tried to yank her arm away and protest, but Law spun her around and covered her mouth in one movement.

"Sorry, kid," he whispered in her ear. "We're going for a little swim."

Law strengthened his hold on her squirming body and hopped onto the railing. Another step into wide open space had them plummeting towards the cold ocean. Nami naturally tried kicking to resurface, but Law knew it would be pointless in a matter of seconds anyway.

In moments, the hull of his sub rested under his feet and began levitating them back to the surface. The ocean, like all bodies of water, tended to weaken him the longer he spent in it. The half-minute he half sank in the water loosened his hold partially on the navigator so that she elbowed him in the gut and got free. She bit his other hand in attempt to free her mouth but before she could get away, giant paws wrapped around her and pulled her into through the hatch.

Law followed them, sealing the hatch behind them. "Dive! Let's get outta here!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Nami cried, her wet hair swinging in dreadlocks and still dripping water. "You can't just abduct me!"

"We just did," Law pointed out. "And it's not abducting. Technically, it's taking into custody."

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, so all of a sudden, you're a Shichibukai again and not some freeloader who comes to visit when he's looking for a night of drinking, is it?"

Bepo offered her a towel, but she ignored it, still glaring at Law.

"What makes you think I'm going to just sit here and be docile while you hold me hostage or take me to Mariejois?" she demanded. "You can't keep me here! I'll escape any restraints you put on me, and I'll break out of any cell you put me in!"

To Law, her little rants were funny. Usually, people were too afraid of him to talk back, let alone yell at him. Even she had shown fear and awe at his abilities when she'd witnessed them, but now, angry and dripping water, her temper had apparently erased her fear of him. The smile that was on his face was genuine instead of a mask.

"And don't even think about spouting off some garbage about this being a submarine," Nami went on. "I can swim as well as a merman! Not my problem if your ship gets flooded when I open the hatch."

Law knew she'd do it too. Or at least, she was contemplating it. She was the smart one in the Mugiwara crew and likely knew that when they reached a certain depth, the water pressure would crush her before she had a chance to swim to the surface. Her threat was a bluff at best below ten leagues.

"Maybe I got bitched at for letting you guys go so easily last time," Law shrugged. "Maybe I have to put on a better show for the bastards at the World Government."

Nami was silent for a moment. "I fail to see how that's my problem."

Law's grin turned into a smirk. "You want me to take this more seriously? To go back to your ship and bomb it from below while they're dealing with another pursuing pirate ship? Because I can do that."

"I thought that crap about a ship to our aft was a ploy," she admitted, still distrustful. "You're telling me that there was another ship too?"

"That's why we didn't surface," Law lied. He could tell she was processing his words and looking for fault in them. Law took the unused towel from Bepo and began scrubbing it through his hair.

"Look at it this way, kid," Law said as he soaked up the water with the towel. "In a day or two when that ship's gone and been dealt with, what are your crew gonna do?"

The glare returned to Nami's eyes. "Float around aimlessly and probably get caught up in a typhoon! I was their sense of direction, you idiot!"

Law tossed the damp towel at her. "Fine. In two days, we'll go look for them. Happy?"

"Not in the slightest," Nami spat. "I don't want to be here! Why couldn't you have grabbed Chopper or Ussop or something?"

"Because I love your sparkling personality," Law answered sarcastically. "You're the easiest one to grab, all right?"

Nami flinched as if he'd struck her. She threw the wet towel on the ground and balled up her fists. Very slowly, she walked towards him.

"I am _not_ easy prey," she hissed, and then pulled back a fist. He caught it easily, but didn't manage to guard himself against the knee that connected with his groin. He doubled over and she got behind him, knocking him hard in the head with her free fist. He let go of her other while Bepo rushed to help him.

Oh, the pirates that he'd ripped the hearts from had done less than this girl! Anger and pain were threatening to take over, as Bepo helped him up. He had to remind himself a couple times that he couldn't harm her; she was his sister. But his nads were pulsing with pain!

A loud squeal of scraping metal drew his attention to the hatch, where Nami was attempting to open it. She didn't have much strength in her but she was managing to push it open slightly. Water was starting to drizzle in from the seams as she pushed against the metal door.

"Idiot! We're at least thirty leagues down!" Law yelled, half limping over to her and pulling the door shut and tossing her away. "You'll be crushed!"

Bepo restrained her while Law sealed the door again.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Law spat. "You're not stupid! Why would you do that?"

Nami treated Bepo a lot better than she treated Law. She barely struggled against him. She only glared at Law, saying nothing.

"Orders, Captain?" Bepo asked. Law rubbed his groin, still aching from the kick.

"Fuck if I know," he sighed in irritation. "She's right. We can't put her in a cell or in shackles. It's pointless."

Nami looked at him and growled under her breath, "Just let me go already."

Bepo gazed at her sadly. "Perhaps I should stay with her?"

Law assessed the suggestion. In truth, if actions were feelings, Nami probably liked Bepo the best of all the Heart Pirates, so it wasn't all that bad of an idea as long as Bepo didn't mind.

"I suppose," Law finally consented. "Just—be careful around her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nami asked petulantly.

"It means that you are obsessed with getting back to your crew, so I wouldn't put it past you to do something devious to get there."

"I wouldn't hurt Bepo," Nami brooded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Law believed her. She really did seem to like the giant white polar bear. Probably enough not to hurt him, but still, she was one of the smartest pirates in the Grand line and most like could find her way around Bepo if he wasn't paying attention. In the mean time, he could just post someone at the hatch door. Just in case.

Law let Bepo take Nami down the lavatory to finish drying off while Law went to the command deck to speak to Jean Bart. After explaining Nami's little water-letting incident, Jean Bart looked even less thrilled to be taking on the Mugiwara navigator.

"Is she really worth it, Captain?" Jean Bart asked, masking his question from the rest of the crew. One of the things Law liked best about Jean Bart was his sense of presence when it came to questioning his captain. He didn't like the other crew members to know about it, and reduced the likelihood of disquiet among them.

"She is," Law assured him. "As far as that rat bastard Red Hair Pirate is concerned, she is."

"Why don't we just warn the Mugiwaras?" Jean Bart suggested. Law shook his head.

"Their idiot savant captain just _loves_ the rat bastard to death," Law told him. "It wouldn't work. This is the easiest way to deal with both problems; the rat bastard and the World Government turds."

Jean Bart snorted. "I really don't consider the Mugiwara Pirates a very big threat in comparison to other pirates sailing the Grand Line."

"I agree with you," Law said, "but the World Government doesn't like anyone or anything that opposes their beliefs. The only reason they even put up with us is simply for the fact that they are afraid of us."

Jean Bart nodded in agreement and turned his attention back to the crew, who were becoming a little too chatty in his opinion. Jean Bart barked orders at them to shut their maws while Law moved over to where he saw Shachi. Law caught his gaze and Shachi met him half way.

"I need you to do something for me," Law told him as he grew near, but before the order could be issued, an alarm began blaring and nearly deafening him.

"Captain! We're taking on water! Again!"

Fuck!

Law instantly knew what it was. He raced the halls up to the hatch, knowing that was probably where she was. Sure enough, Nami was straining against the weight of the ocean as it poured in and tried to force the hatch back on her again. The water was up to his knees and difficult to slosh through but he managed it. He pulled Nami away from the hatch and held her struggling form while the hatch mostly shut itself. Water still leaked through the seams at an alarming rate, but the most immediate danger was over.

The sub lurched as the direction changed, angling upwards. Law stumbled and nearly fell, but put one hand out to steady himself and had the other still holding Nami. Soon, the hatch began to ease open again, causing more water to rush on them until the sub finally surfaced. The hatch swung open freely and some of the water that had made it to thigh height began pouring out.

Nami elbowed him in the nose and he dropped her. He put a hand up to pinch his nose and staunch the blood while she ducked out onto his small deck and almost stopped in her tracks.

"What's the problem, kid?" he hissed, following her out. She looked around in every direction and appeared stumped.

"This isn't the way to Mariejois," she murmured, still looking around. "We're not even remotely close…"

Law wiped at his nose and snotted out blood and mucus as he stood next to her. "I never said we were going to Mariejois. What did you do to Bepo?"

She looked at him and backed away towards the edge of the deck. Shachi and Penguin stuck their heads out the hatch hole curiously.

"I put him to sleep," she answered. "He'll be fine in a couple of minutes."

He took a step towards her and reflexively, she took a step back. Law halted and gestured widely to the open ocean.

"Where do you think you're going to go, kid?" Law asked. "So you can swim. So what? You're at least three or four thousand leagues from anything. You gonna just float around in the ocean and hope a ship comes by to pick you up?"

She looked around again, as if that was exactly her plan. Law took another step toward her and she jumped into the water. She didn't lie; she could swim damn well. Probably out-swim all of his men.

"We're just going to follow you," Law told her. "And when you get tired, we're gonna scoop you up again."

"Better than being a voluntary hostage," she returned, swimming farther away. Law walked across the deck while the sub repositioned to follow her at an even gait.

"You are determined to be a pain in the ass, aren't you?" Law guessed. Nami gave him the finger and took a deep breath, diving under water. She did not surface again within his range of sight. After about a half a minute, Law looked over at Shachi and Penguin. "Where is she?"

Shachi called down the hall and waited for a response. When it came, it wasn't good.

"She's disappeared from our sonar," Shachi relayed. "Bart says he can't see her anywhere."

It made no sense. The sub was equipped to detect anything around or above it. The sub should be able to detect where she was. Unless…

"She keel hulled us," Law realized, and ran to the aft of the ship. Still, he saw nothing and began to really worry. Nearly a minute had gone by. He turned to Shachi and Penguin.

"Keep an eye out," he ordered. "She has to come up for air."

Indeed she did. And when she did, she grabbed Law's boot and yanked hard, pulling him into the ocean. Law flailed in surprise for a moment before his limbs started to go numb. He felt an arm cinch around him under his armpits and haul him back to the surface. When he broke, he coughed up seawater for a few seconds before cursing.

"Question for you."

Of course. Nami had him. And when he blinked away the water from his eyes, he saw that she was towing him away from the ship, while Shachi and Penguin looked on, stunned and a little outraged.

"If I haul you around with me, and suddenly a sea king appears," she whispered in his ear. As if on cue, a large sea cow surfaced very close to them. "When I drop you, will your crew go after me, or go after you? And remember, the sea king is going to go after the one that looks like an easier meal."

Nami was too smart. Too smart for her own good. She was determined to get away from him even though he meant her no harm. Quite the contrary.

The sea king spotted the two of them and began swimming their way. Nami towed Law along with her for a few moments and then her hold began slipping away. Law could see that Shachi and Penguin had already disappeared from the deck into the sub and were getting ready to attack the sea king. They wouldn't notice him when Nami let go.

"Aw, fuck," he muttered, and then fell beneath the water. He couldn't move his arms or legs at all; they'd become too paralyzed by the ocean to even attempt to work. His eyes worked fine, though, and he watched the sea king come towards him with open jaws.

A torpedo struck the open mouth of the sea cow as Law's crew brought the sub in to ram it. Law continued to float down, watching the battle between the sub and the sea king grow smaller and smaller. Darkness was starting to creep in due to the lack of light and soon it grew very cold.

It felt like being wrapped in ice cold silken sheets. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was simply falling in slow motion.

Something grabbed the back of his shirt and began towing him up. The light returned before the cold water grew less frigid. He could still see his sub chasing off the sea king. When he finally broke the surface, he gasped in a huge lungful of air and immediately coughed it back out.

His lungs burned with the fresh oxygen he heaved in and out, growing dizzy even though he floated in one spot. When his ears stopped ringing, he could hear his own breath panting among the decidedly indelicate sound of a woman cursing.

"Damned sons of bitches. What the fuck were they thinking? So stupid! So damned, fucking stupid!"

It shouldn't have shocked him that Nami was the one who had plucked him back up. The rest of his crew had been occupied. But it still did. Was she that soft a pirate that she'd save her enemy after intentionally trying to drown him?

"I swear, I've never met such fucking stupid, pea-brained idiots! They make Luffy seem like a damn genius."

Somewhere, in between his trying to stop coughing and panting, Law's brain noted that it was a little funny to hear her swearing like a true sailor. Apparently, the two of them had common traits that they unconsciously displayed from time to time.

While pondering that thought, DEATH settled under him. Gravity came back to his limbs as the water dissipated, but Law still felt like he couldn't move. His head rested on her lap while she pulled apart his eyelids and glanced into them with worry.

"Can you hear me?" she asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

He meant to say yes, but only managed to cough up a little more water. She pulled under his arms and sat him up, which caused more coughing. He would have crumpled back onto the hull if she hadn't held him up.

"I swear," she muttered, "if I hadn't turned back and—"

The hands supporting him disappeared. Law lurched to the side but caught himself on one shaky arm. He looked over to see Penguin and Shachi hauling the navigator away, one of them holding her arms and the other her legs.

Jean Bart helped him up and with his strength, he more carried Law's weight than let Law walk himself back into DEATH. They followed the sound of the woman's curses through the sub until they arrived at the medical bay. Bepo, Law was glad to see, was up and about, taking the pissed off girl from the detainment of Shachi and Penguin.

Nami huddled close to Bepo. The large bear let her, apparently having no hard feelings about her knocking him out or trying to drown Law.

"Crazy," Law muttered before he could stop himself. "You're damn crazy."

"You're welcome for saving your damn life," she grumbled, shaking from the cold air hitting her wet skin. "Next time I'll just let you drown while your inept crew just forgets about you."

"We're not inept!" Jean Bart argued.

"You went after a sea king instead of your anchor of a Captain!" Nami argued. "I'd say that's inept! Or just completely and utterly stupid! Which do you prefer?"

Jean Bart wasn't the only one who took offense. Penguin, usually too enamored by women to actually speak to them, stepped up.

"So you're saying we should have just let the sea king go after him?" he asked.

"If you had any sense on how to pilot this thing, you'd have beat it to him," Nami answered. "And you have ammunition. Did you forget about that?"

"So we'd have gotten to him, but the sea cow would've chewed right through us," Shachi argued. "And then he'd be dead anyway, along with the rest of us."

"This thing can take a sea king bite!" Nami nearly screamed, slapping the floor hard with her hand. It made a loud clanging sound that must have sent a ripple of pain up her arm, but she didn't seem to feel it.

Why she was so upset over Law's crew kind of forgetting about him was a mystery to him.

"If it can't," she continued, "then you go down with it! That's what it means to be nakama! You're supposed to die for him! And him for you! That's the promise we make to one another."

At this point, no one had anything to say in rebuttal. They all looked properly shamed, too. Scolded like naughty children. It would have been funny if what she'd said weren't true.

"Yeah, we fucked up," Jean Bart finally admitted. "But we woulda been fine if you hadn't dunked our Captain."

"Oh, so every enemy you come across is going to do you the favor of _not_ trying to kill your Captain," Nami surmised with heavy sarcasm. "As if."

"Enough," Law finally cut in. "Get back to the others, Bart. You two, go stand at the hatch."

Shachi and Penguin followed Jean Bart out of the medical bay, still sending looks of dismay at Nami. She ignored them and focused on drying herself off again. Law took the offered towel from Bepo and began drying off himself.

"I need clothes."

Law looked at Nami in incredulity, sure that he must have misheard her. "What?"

"I need clothes," she repeated, gesturing to herself. "It's cold in here and these are soaking wet. I don't have a fur coat or a heart of ice, you know."

Law raised his eyebrow at her in annoyance. "I don't have a heart of ice. Would you like to see?"

Nami looked like she was going to retort, but stopped herself. "No thanks. You'd probably pop your chest open and show me the real thing. Gross."

"We don't have 'clothes' for you," Law told her. "Just the jumpsuits."

Nami threw her wet towel at his chest. "You're wearing 'clothes'."

"You're not wearing my clothes," Law denied. "They'd be too big on you."

Despite this assessment, Bepo produced one of Law's shirts and handed it to her.

"Hey!" Law protested. "Not my clothes!"

Apparently eager to get out of wet clothes, Nami began stripping right there in the medical bay. Law growled in discontent and turned his back, yanking his nodatchi off. He had to dry it before the salt in the water stuck and began eating away at it.

"Thank you."

Law looked at Nami in surprise. Nope, never mind. She was looking at Bepo. Of course.

"You're quite welcome," Bepo answered, and enveloped her into his warm, furry body again.

"You do realize you're cuddling the woman who knocked you out less than an hour ago," Law pointed out. Bepo either shrugged or sighed heavily, Law couldn't tell. But either way he didn't push her away. "You're off guard duty for the time being."

Bepo cocked his head to the side in confusion. Law shrugged and held his arms open, as if to show that there weren't any other options. "Sorry. You're just too soft on her."

Bepo bared his teeth at the 'soft' comment but did not argue with his Captain.

"Don't be an asshole," Nami chided. "Just because he's nice to me doesn't make him a bad crewman."

Law glared at her. "I didn't say he was a bad crewman. I just said that he's not a good guard for you."

Nami rolled her eyes. "There is no such thing as a good guard for me. I can get out of any trap you put me into."

Law was amused with her overconfidence. "As I recall, you had a hard time switching back to your own body after I put you in Franky."

Nami ground her teeth. "You know, I still haven't forgiven you for putting the pervert into my body. Do you know what he did to me in my body?"

Law could barely contain his amusement. "What?"

Nami's eyebrow twitched in a way that he knew was often seen on his own face. "The pervert tried on lingerie, took pictures, and now hides them in his bunk."

Half way through her description, Law burst into loud chuckles.

"Not my fault you have a pervert for a chef," he managed. Nami was not thrilled with his response.

"I was talking about physical traps, anyway," she clarified. "There's nothing you could shackle me to, there's no room you could lock me into, no way to keep me in this submarine without me finding a way out."

Law sighed. "Yeah. You're right. So I guess that just means I'm your new personal guard."

Nami groaned in exasperation. "I think I would _pay_ for anyone else."

.o0o.

It was not what Law would consider a good day, despite having successfully lifted the Mugiwara navigator from her crew. No, Law thought it was a downright shitty day. All the water that Nami had let into their ship combined with the damage taken when ramming the sea king had taken its toll on their submarine and they were currently unable to sail beneath the ocean.

They were a floating target now. Wonderful. So fucking wonderful.

And Nami was just a peach, too. She was going out of her way to be miserable to him and overly sweet and kind to everyone else. It was getting to the point that Law was not to trust his own men around her, for fear that she would charm them into defying him and somehow letting her go. It was that reason that he'd insisted when dinner came along that she sit with him and him alone to eat. That was going over about as good as a hurricane on a wedding day.

Nami stabbed at her food with a violence that showed her irritation with being stuck at the proverbial 'Captain's Table.'

"Don't break the fork," Law muttered under his breath. As if to irritate him, Nami began stabbing harder. "Hey! You break it, you bought it."

Nami threw the utensil at him, spokes first. "Screw you."

She sat back in her chair and scowled, looking anywhere but at him. Law sighed dramatically.

"Are you always this difficult with your own crew?" he grumbled.

"I'm not difficult," Nami pouted. "I just don't want to be here."

Law pushed away his meal, dissatisfied and upset that she continued to be hostile towards him even though he was doing this for her. It finally occurred to him that she didn't realize what he was doing this for and that he really was turning himself into a glutton for punishment if he didn't tell her _something_.

"Look," he said to her, "I did this for your own good. You may not believe it now, but hopefully someday you will."

"How so?" Nami asked. "How is this, taking me from my crew, the only place I want to be, for my own good?"

Law leaned forward across the table. "I didn't want to tell anyone this, but the fuckin' Red Hair Pirates were rumored to be attempting a rendezvous with your crew. I, as a Shichibukai, could not let this happen for two reasons. One: a giant powerhouse like the Red Hair fuckers cannot be in cahoots with an equal or smaller power. It's one of those crappy ass rules I have to deal with."

Nami shrugged her shoulders and nodded in acceptance of that reason.

"Two," Law went on, "I knew that if I took one of the Mugiwara crew members, I knew that they would focus on recovering them, rather than voluntarily succumbing to a meeting with them. It really was for your own good."

"Really," Nami repeated deadpanned. "For our own good?"

"Yeah. Because the minute the World Government found out that one of the Yonko Pirates was in league to meet up with one of the Big Ten, they would launch an all out war that would rival what happened at Marineford."

Nami flinched.

"What?"

"It—it's just that Marineford wasn't good for our crew," she stammered.

Law nodded in understanding. "I know. I heard about it."

Nami shook her head. "No, you don't know. You just don't understand what it did to Luffy."

Law gave her a look of annoyance. "Really. I wouldn't understand it. 'Cause I'm a stupid ass fucking pirate."

"No," Nami protested. "You just don't understand how important it is to Luffy to lose someone he cares about, let alone his own brother."

Law picked at a spot on the table. "I might know something about that."

Nami went on without acknowledging that she heard him. "He was depressed. He was…he was not himself. And it took a long time for him to be himself again. And then when he saw us all again, it was like reopening a wound. You just don't understand."

Law did not answer, but looked at her from under his lashes. Yeah, he understood. He understood more than he cared to. One big difference was that now he had his sister back, but couldn't tell her that she was his sister. Telling her would not end well, he knew.

Sensing his sulky change of demeanor, Nami changed the subject. "So how long am I stuck here with you?"

It was not a good subject to divert to.

"You're stuck here as long as I keep you," Law snapped. "What the hell difference does it make?"

Nami slapped the table so hard that the dishes bounced. "It makes a difference to me! I want to go back to my crew!"

"And I want fuckin' One Piece! So how does it feel to want?" Law returned. A white paw cut the space between them, as if to signal a cease fire between the lines. Nami looked down to see that Bepo had placed a small piece of cake in front of her.

"What's this for?" she asked, looking up at him.

Bepo smiled a toothy smile. It would have been terrifying if she hadn't known he was smiling. "I'm trying to counteract the Captain's sour persona with something sweet."

"Yeah, well where's mine?" Law bit. "C'mon, I'm the Captain around here, ain't I? Don't I get some respect?"

Nami eyed him coolly. "You get as much respect as you deserve, I think."

Law barely managed to hold his tongue. What was it that was in his sister that managed to bring this out of him? They should have gotten along. They were siblings. They should just innately know each other. But no, he wanted to choke her more than he'd wanted to choke any other pirate in the entire Grand Line.

Well, maybe there were still a couple pirates higher on that list than her…

"So maybe I can get a straight answer out of you," Nami commented, looking up at Bepo. "How long are you guys going to hold me hostage here?"

Bepo looked at her in confusion. "Hostage? We're just holding onto you for a few days."

"Yes, but what for?" she pressed. "I fail to see where in this idiot's illogical little brain the best idea came to kidnap one of the crew members in order to stop the Red Hair Pirates from meeting up with us. Couldn't you have just—I don't know, bombed the Red Hair Pirate ship?"

Law looked at her like she was crazy. "Would you do that?"

"Well, no, probably not," she admitted. "But we're not enemies with them."

"If you were?" Law posed.

Nami squirmed uncomfortably. "Okay, no, probably not. So what? There're a hundred different ideas that are better than just kidnapping one of the crew members."

"Oh yeah," Law sarcastically went along. "One of them being bombing your ship instead. Would you have preferred it if I'd done that?"

"You're worse than Zoro!" Nami cursed. "Every damn thing out of your mouth drives me up the wall!"

"Well, maybe if you weren't such a stuck-up, high and mighty, whiney little bitch," Law insulted, "maybe it wouldn't rub you the wrong way!"

"I'm stuck up? What about you, you pompous asshole?" Nami scoffed. Her voice turned mocking. "'I'm Trafalgar Law, and I stole the hearts of 200 pirates so I'm a badass.'"

Law was brought back to attention by the sound of Bepo, of all his crew, snorting in laughter at Nami's comment. The rest of his crew, thankfully, had the brains to keep silent in the insult. Law ground his teeth together. She'd better keep her mouth shut or she was going to drive him over th—

"Son of a bitch," she muttered at him. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. She'd insulted his _mother._

Blind with anger, Law reached over the table to grab her, but was stopped halfway by enormous white paws. Sensing the danger she was in, Nami scrambled out of her chair and away from the table a few paces. The mess hall had fallen completely silent save for the angry heaving breaths of Trafalgar Law.

"You know _nothing_ about my mother," he hissed, barely contained by Bepo. Nami put her arms over her chest reflexively, as if she felt it being pulled apart. Law wasn't just struggling against Bepo, he was winning. The giant white bear was being pulled along with Law as he stalked toward Nami, who backed away with equal steps. "Do not presume to know _anything_—"

His open hand constricted into a fist and Nami cried out, falling to her knees.

"Stop!" she cried, doubling over. She looked up to see Bepo bite down hard on Law's shoulder. His sharp teeth must have gone deep because Nami swore she heard bones grinding.

"Alright! Alright! Enough," Law yelled, pushing on Bepo's head with his free hand. "I got it!"

Probably for good measure, Bepo growled at him.

"I do," Law assured him, though still looking pissed. "I got it."

He looked down at Nami, who had not come up from a crouch. He then looked at Bepo. "Bring her."

Nami didn't realize she was panting until Bepo pulled her to her feet and she began to shake as well. Shock was setting in. Bepo, with his jowls covered in blood and eyes dilated from adrenaline, should have been terrifying to her, she knew. But she reached as far as she could around his furry body and clung tightly to him as he walked her down the hall behind Law.

They ended up in the infirmary. Law immediately began patching up the holes in his shoulder. She had no idea why she had to be there with him as he did it. Hadn't he just seen what he'd tried to do to her? He'd kill her if he continued to be her guard.

"I'll stay with Bepo," she offered, her voice sounding shaky. "I promise I won't knock him out. I swear."

Law was looking at her from the mirror he faced as he patched himself up. He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a syringe, tapping it with his finger to dislodge any air bubbles. Bepo grunted lowly, as though he disapproved. In a moment, Law stabbed Nami in upper arm and emptied the syringe. She whined at the pain, but did nothing else but slump to the floor.

A sleepy cocktail, Chopper called it whenever he used something like it on their ship. Nami knew it was simply knock-out juice. She tried to hold on to consciousness as long as she could, but knew she'd never last more than a few seconds.

"Captain…"

"It's better this way. I can protect her without accidentally trying to kill her."

'Protect me? Protect me from what?' were Nami's last thoughts before she fell over the edge into oblivion.

.o0o.

The first time she woke up, Nami knew she was in a holding cell. Apparently, since she was knocked out, she was allowed in one. But before she could even come up with a snarky thought about how stupid they were to leave her there, even after knocking her out, Law was standing next to her giving her another shot of knock-out juice. Hell, she didn't even have time to insult him before she was dropped back into darkness.

The second time she woke up, though, things were much different. The submarine lurched with impact strikes, making her swimming vision even worse. She was never going to get herself out of the holding cell…wait, this wasn't the holding cell. It was the bridge. She knew because when her ears stopped ringing, she could hear the shouts of Law's crew as they tried to dodge incoming attacks.

"How the hell are they doing that with just guns and swords?"

"Captain, they've knocked out one of our propulsion units!"

"Damn it! If only we could just fucking dive!"

When her vision cleared, Nami saw that more than half of the crew was glaring at her. As best she could, she gave them a glare back and flipped them her middle finger. Law made it over to her and she tried, pretty pathetically, to slip away from his grasp. She did note that he was without a syringe and calmed a bit. Her mind was working slow still.

"Can we make it to an island?" Law asked Jean Bart.

"Probably," was Jean Bart's assessment. "But we're no better if we get to land because in a one-on-one fight with them—"

"They'll stop attacking you as soon as we're off the ship," Law interrupted, nodding a heat at Nami. "I'm going to take the kid and run. If I'm lucky, I'll find some caves to hide in, and in the meantime, you guys get this thing back to dive-worthy."

"Captain," Jean Bart protested, "they're not going to just leave us be and follow you—"

"I'm telling you, that's exactly what they're going to do," Law interrupted again. "That's why all of you are staying here."

Jean Bart wasn't the only one to protest to this. Law wouldn't hear it, though.

"This was my stupid idea," he clarified. "Just mine. So if those assholes kill someone for it, it's going to be just me. Got it?"

Everyone got it. No one liked it. But before anyone else could offer up an argument, Law left the bridge, dragging Nami along with him by the arm. Still a little groggy, her feet didn't cooperate with the pace he set.

"Damn it, slow down," she grumbled.

"No time," he replied. They were at the outer hatch and he was pushing it open. Bright light knocked Nami's senses for a loop and she stumbled out the hatch. Law picked her up and slung her over his shoulder as he crossed the upper hull of his ship in four wide strides and jumped down into the waist-deep water. He made it a good two meters before he had to pull her down from his shoulder, but by then, Nami was able to walk on her own again. Her brain was also working, too.

She fully intended on ditching him right there. Except that when she turned around to see who their pursuer was, she froze. That was Dracule Mihawk's ship. This time, when Law pulled her along out of the ocean and up onto the beach, she didn't fight it. In fact, she was a little quicker in reaching the tree-line than he was. But that didn't last long. Soon, Law had overtaken her and grabbed her arm to tow her again.

"Where are we headed?" she asked between pants as they ran.

"Away from the beach," Law answered. "Somewhere we can hide for a few hours until repairs are complete."

"What happens when we return to the beach?" she asked, knowing that whoever pursued them, Mihawk or otherwise, would eventually return to the beach too and wait for them.

"I'll figure that out when we get there," he snapped. They ran in silence for a minute before she spoke again.

"Why is Mihawk after us?" she asked.

"Because he's a fucking rat bastard, that's why!" Law replied. "Now shut up and run! They're going to be on us any minute now if you don't move your ass!"

Nami kept tripping as Law towed her along through the tropical foliage. His legs had to be at least a foot longer than hers and it made it very hard for her to keep up.

"Slow down," she hissed. "You're going too fast."

"We gotta keep going," Law insisted. "They're right behind us."

Nami briefly glanced behind her. She saw nothing but the swinging leaves that her own body had knocked out of the way in their retreat. She was about to say so when she saw the flare from a muzzle and heard the crack of a pistol.

She didn't see the bullet fly past her head, but she did hear it, and Law curse. She looked back to him. His upper arm, the one he was using to haul her with him, was now bleeding.

"Why are they shooting at us?" she asked, mystified. As far as she knew, she didn't really have any beef with the Red Hair Pirates.

"They're shooting at me," Law corrected, now pulling her along faster. "But keep your head down just in case."

They didn't make it much farther before Nami's footing slipped and she accidentally pulled them both down to the ground. Law was cursing again as he tried to pull her to standing, but after a moment, he stopped altogether, as if realizing how futile it was.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking around. Still, she could not see anyone.

"If I move, they'll kill me," Law answered quietly. Nami got to her feet and stepped closer to him.

"I don't see anyone," she whispered. Law slowly raised his hand as if to touch her. She heard another crack of a pistol and flinched when blood spattered against her cheek. The bullet from the unseen pistol was lodged in his raised hand.

"Will you stop shooting when she's so close?" Law yelled into the seemingly empty forest. "If she moves the wrong way, you'll hit her."

Finally, Nami could hear footsteps coming towards them. Four pairs. Judging from the direction the bullet had come from, Nami watched the foliage expectantly. After a few moments, leaves separated and a tall, muscular man with dark, graying hair stepped forth. This was Benn Beckman. She recognized him from old Wanted posters. When he stepped into a light spot, Nami could see the tell-tale X scar on the left side of his face.

Next came Yassop, complete with a smoking barrel gun. Though she'd seen Wanted pictures of him too, she wouldn't have needed them for reference. Yassop and Ussop looked so much alike that she'd have known him anyway. The only details of difference were blond dread-locks instead of black, and obviously, the length of the nose. But otherwise, Nami truly could believe that she was looking at a portrait of Ussop in twenty-five years.

Third was a heavy-footstepped man gnawing a hank of meat. Goggles and green and white stripes emerged, a giant beast of pinstripes. Lucky Roo. Even through his chewing, the trademark grin was there. He shuffled past the other two to sit on a log and continue chewing his snack.

And then he came. Not necessarily tall, but imposing with each step. The black cloak came through the leaves first, followed by his only arm. It pushed away a particularly big leaf that would have smacked him in the face. His face. Tanned. Scarred. Surrounded by somewhat shaggy red hair.

Shanks.

Nami's knees felt weak. Like she couldn't stand. Her vision swam and she stumbled against Law, losing her balance. His bleeding arm caught her and she rested her head against him, feeling somewhat queasy. She'd heard about the haki of this man making those who were not used to it pass out.

"Will you stop it, asshole," Law spat. "She's gonna faint."

Nami wanted to deny that prediction, but also felt that if she opened her mouth, she might vomit on Law.

"Maybe it'd be better if she did pass out," Shanks suggested in a light tone, though the whole situation seemed as far from light as possible. "Do you want her to watch this happen?"

Law pushed Nami behind him, and admittedly, the strength of the haki did diminish enough that Nami didn't feel like passing out anymore. But she also couldn't see what was going on. And then there were the shakes. Her whole body was shaking. Not from fear, but as if she'd just been through a terrible ordeal and the adrenaline was still pumping through her veins.

"Just go away," Law hissed. "Leave us alone. No one wants you around."

"The same could be said of you," Shanks returned, his tone now belaying the seriousness of the meeting. "You shouldn't have interfered."

"You shouldn't have," Law spat back. "You should leave well enough alone! She doesn't need you or anything you think you could offer. Leave her alone! Leave _us_ alone!"

"Us?" Shanks repeated. "There is no 'us' between the two you. You stole her from her ship."

"You'd have done the same!" Law accused. "I acted first when I knew you wouldn't leave her alone!"

"And why should I?" Shanks posed. "She belongs—"

"The hell she does!" Law interrupted, backing Nami towards a tree and shoving her behind it. He then stepped forward and pulled his nodatchi. "You leave her alone!"

Shanks sighed in annoyance, and suddenly, the haki was stronger than ever. Dizziness took over Nami and she fell to her knees and then retched on the mossy ground. Her ears were ringing as she fought to stay conscious, but she could also just barely hear over it the sound of swords clashing.

She had to stay awake. She couldn't pass out! Not here. She forced air in and out of her lungs, blinking repeatedly to stave off the darkness that was creeping in on her vision. Slowly, either she got her bearings or the haki began to dissipate.

Almost gingerly, she peered around the tree. There had been a fight, and it was clearly over. Shanks was resheathing his sword and Law was on the ground, bleeding more than ever. Terrified at the bloody sight, Nami crawled to him, check him over for wounds.

There were many purplish spots across his chest, suggesting internal damage. Only a few areas on his arms and hands were actually cut. Likely, Law had succumbed to internal pain before falling. With still shaking hands, Nami checked his pulse. Erratic. Slow breathing. He needed a doctor. Bad.

How ironic it was that the 'Surgeon of Death' needed a doctor. Nami doubted that he even had one in his crew aside from himself, and most of this was beyond her capability to heal.

"He'll live."

Nami's own breathing became erratic. The heartless prediction of Law's condition coming from Shanks' mouth was a little more than she could bear. A sob escaped before she could stop it, but she sucked in more air and turned on him.

"No thanks to you!" she cried. "You should have left us alone!"

She watched one of his eyebrows twitch; the one with the scars. "You don't even know what I came here for."

"Well, judging from this, probably nothing good!" she returned. "I thought Law took me just to be an asshole, but I guess he really was trying to protect me!"

Shanks hung his head in exasperation and shook it. "I didn't come here to hurt you."

"Don't…believe him," mumbled Law, popping open an eye. "He…lies."

Nami's attention returned to Law. His eye was glassy and slightly dilated, suggesting that shock was beginning to set it. Soon, his own body would start to shake.

"He's a liar," he grumbled, little droplets of blood spattering about when he spoke. "Don't believe…a word he says…Don't believe him."

Nami wiped away the blood spatters on his chin. "We need to get you back to DEATH. Can you sit up?"

Law tried to right himself, but couldn't manage it alone. Nami helped him to sit up, but he leaned heavily on her. His eyes threatened to close again.

"You need to stay awake," Nami told him. "Talk to me."

"Son of a bitch," he murmured, though his eyes didn't stay open. "Fucking bastard. Always causes trouble. Fucking…hate him."

Shanks took a step toward her and she held her hand out to stop him. "Don't. Just don't."

"You won't be able to carry him by yourself," he told her. "Let one of us help you."

"You've helped plenty," Nami bit. "I'll do it myself."

She got to her knees and then rolled back onto her feet, pulling Law with her. He was heavy. A lot heavier than she had imagined a lanky guy like him to be. But she continued to use centrifugal force and managed to yank him chest down onto her back. She would have to drag him the whole way, but she also knew that as long as she leaned forward while she walked, she could probably manage it.

The problem was the nodatchi.

It lay on the ground a few feet away, and she knew that she couldn't leave it behind. If he was anything like Zoro, he'd flip shit when he found it missing. She took the few steps toward it and braced herself. Again, Shanks tried to help her.

"I'll do it myself!" she snapped, bending at the knees and lowering. That was the easy part. Getting back upright was tough. She managed it though, and began trudging through the foliage. She knew they would follow her; she hadn't given them…whatever they'd wanted. Still, they'd pissed her off enough that she felt like being petulant.

It took over an hour to cover the distance that she and Law had run in just under ten minutes. The whole time, the four followers murmured quietly to one another and occasionally, offered to help. She always denied.

When she could start to see the sub through the sparse leaves, she heard Law mumbling in her ear again. She turned her head and saw he was still unconscious. Apparently, he talked in his sleep.

"Bastard," he murmured. Nami half smiled at the fact that he cursed even in his sleep. "Fuckin…ass. Hate him. Hate rat bastards. Shithead. Not mine. Not my father."

Nami stumbled and barely kept herself upright. What did he say?

"Got no father," Law mumbled again. Soon he was snoring. He was so much like Luffy in that way. It seemed he would be alright after all.

As soon as she cleared the foliage, Bepo saw her and came bounding toward them. Shachi and Penguin followed while Jean Bart barked at the rest of the crew to get inside the sub.

Bepo took Law from her as soon as he reached her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Nami assured him as the tropical forest behind her split again. Nami couldn't help but notice the slight panic that was in Bepo's eyes at the sight of the four Red Hair Pirates. He looked like he wanted to back away, but also like he was frozen in place. Penguin and Shachi slowed their gait to a walk, but didn't stop until they were shoulder to shoulder with Bepo.

"Polar Bear," Shanks spoke. Bepo started. "Take your so-called Captain back to his ship."

Bepo took a tentative step back, and then another. He wouldn't turn his back on the four imposing men. Nami started to follow him.

"Wait," Shanks called. Nami turned and glared at him, tempted to give him the finger. "I never got to tell you—"

"Not interested," Nami cut him off. "I know you've done some amazing things. One of them, I'm truly grateful for. You saved my Captain's life, and he in turn was able to save mine. And my entire village. But today, I couldn't give two shits. Leave me alone."

Shanks grunted in disgust. "What I don't see is why you give those two shits for that bastard pirate over there."

"It's none of your damn business," she hissed. "_I'm _none of your damn business. Who I am with, whose life I choose to save, and why I give a damn about that life is definitely none of your business."

In retrospect, telling off a pirate that was probably a bazillion times stronger than her was not a good idea. That thought didn't occur until she'd turned to leave and then heard footsteps following her in the sand. Suddenly nervous, she began jogging towards Shachi and Penguin, who were flanking Bepo on their way back to the sub.

"Wait a damn minute," Shanks said as he grabbed her arm. She flinched as though she expected to be struck, but realized dully he couldn't do that with his only hand holding onto her. Tentatively, she peeked at him. He looked annoyed, but not angry. "Why are you afraid of me?"

She couldn't help the exasperated look she gave him right before she looked at Law. "You're dangerous."

"Not to you," he denied.

"Law doesn't believe that," she countered. Shanks rolled his eyes.

"My…problem with him does not involve you," he dismissed. "He should have never interfered."

"Your problem with him," Nami repeated. It suddenly clicked. Law hated this man for something. He'd murmured about denying someone being his father. Law had sought out the chance to become the Shichibukai, sworn enemy of the Yonko. "He thinks you're his father."

Shanks looked at her in surprise. "He might. But I'm not."

"Why would he think that?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I married his mother," he answered. "Right before he was born. He wasn't mine. But I loved Ryna and I dealt with the brat."

"No wonder he hates you," Nami commented, offended by his statement. "He really could have thought of you as a father. Blood doesn't matter, you know?"

Shanks seemed a little amused and snorted. "Blood doesn't matter. If you say so."

"I know so," she returned vehemently. "My mother, the woman who raised me and my sister, she didn't give birth to us, but she loved us so much that she gave her life for us."

He seemed a little upset by her words. "Fine. Blood doesn't matter. But in this case, mine and his, it did. I couldn't help but see that he wasn't my son because I saw that boy's father more often than not. Didn't help that we were enemies, too. And every time I saw him, it was a reminder that he wasn't my son."

"Fine," Nami snapped. "We'll agree to disagree. And I'm leaving."

She turned and left again, but this time, she didn't hear footsteps following her. Good. The shakes were beginning to return and she wanted to be back on the sub where she wouldn't have him staring after her anymore. Shachi was waiting at the hatch and pulled it closed as soon as she was through. She instantly felt relieved.

"Cap'n's down in the infirmary," Shachi told her. "He said that if you came back to tell you he wanted to see you."

She nodded and headed down, both relieved and mystified that Law was awake already. Bepo was with him, watching his Captain as he stood in front of a mirror with needle and thread.

"Please tell me you aren't sewing yourself up," Nami begged, standing in the doorway. Law looked at her though the mirror and looked a little surprised to see her.

"No one else's gonna do it," he responded after a moment, and went on sewing. Nami sighed in disgust and walked toward him.

"Here. I'll do it," she offered, reaching to take the needle from him. He turned away.

"It's gross," he warned. "You don't wanna do it."

"We didn't always have Chopper," she argued. "Someone had to do it, and it was me. So gimme it."

Law finally turned towards her and she blanched. His open stomach cavity faced her. She looked up at his face.

"Okay, you're right, that is gross," she admitted. Law snorted and turned to the mirror again. "Hey, wait. I can do it. I guess I just didn't expect your stomach to be open like that. I mean, you're standing up."

Law shrugged, and when he did, Nami could see the organs move inside of him. It would have been fascinating if they hadn't been moving to keep him alive at the same time. That was nauseating.

"I've done it before," he told her. "Bepo keeps an eye out so I don't pass out or something."

Nami took the needle from him and assessed his middle. There was definitely blood, but she could tell by the odd angle it flowed in one spot that there was repair needed.

"Doesn't this hurt?" she asked as she sewed up a small rip in what she presumed to be a kidney.

"A little," he admitted. "I'm used to it, though."

"Here?" she asked, pointing to what was possibly his spleen. He nodded. She smeared blood away with her thumb to find the tear. "Did you decide to become a doctor before or after you found your Devil Fruit?"

"I didn't decide to become one," Law told her. "Bepo just pointed out one day that I kind of was one."

Nami glanced over to where Bepo was sitting to see that he was gone. How did a six foot tall white bear just disappear without her knowing? She must have been concentrating real hard.

"Shanks called him Polar Bear," Nami commented. "I guess that makes sense."

Law didn't respond. He pointed to a spot on his large intestine that needed stitching. It was quiet for a few minutes.

"Why'd you come back?" he asked.

Nami glanced up at him. "You said you were going to take me back to my crew."

"Didn't he talk to you?" he wondered. "I thought for sure when I passed out that he'd be dogging you."

"He did," she agreed. "I told him to leave me alone."

"Did he?" Law asked, now pointing to his small intestine.

"Not really," she admitted. "Said some things that pissed me off."

Law was silent. It took a moment before she realized that he wasn't even breathing. She looked at his face and noted that he looked ill.

"What's wrong?" she asked quickly. "Did I miss somewhere? You look ready to keel over."

He shook his head and took the needle from her. He clipped the stitch thread for her and then, before she realized what had happened, his stomach was once again covered in skin.

"Let me do your arm," she told him, trying to take the needle from him.

"I need a different one," he said, stopping her. "That one's just for internal tissue."

He walked over to a bunch of cabinets and opened one.

"So what'd he say?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. It wasn't working, she noted. He looked as nervous as a mouse surrounded by traps.

"Well, some stuff about you," she admitted.

"They're lies," he spoke immediately.

"I don't think they are," she disagreed.

"He's a liar," Law spat, turning on her. "He's a bastard and liar—"

"You're going to pop your stitches," Nami interrupted. Law stopped his ranting and gave her a new needle and thread. "Anyway, I don't feel like I should talk about it. I feel like it's private and I shouldn't just gab about what he said to me."

Law eyed her as he sat down so she could attend to the bullet wounds in his arm.

"If it concerns me, I want to know what he said," Law continued. "I don't want him telling you lies about me and—"

"He said he's not your father," Nami blurted out. Law looked at her, not glaring but not nice either.

"That is not a lie, I suppose," he consented. "What else?"

"He said he married your mother right before you were born," she went on, cleaning the first wound. "But that he also knew who your father was because he was his enemy."

Law snorted. "That's bullshit."

"The part that pissed me off was the whole blood thing," she sighed. "That because you weren't of his blood, he wouldn't see you as his son. That pissed me off so much."

"He's full of lies, so don't worry about it," Law dismissed. "Anything else?"

She shook her head. "I left after he made me mad."

Law sighed deeply. "That don't sound like him."

"I don't care," she shrugged. "Hopefully he'll leave me alone now."

Nami moved on to sewing his hand. Silence hung in the air between them.

"What's your mom like?" Law asked suddenly. "And your sister. What's she like?"

"My mom," Nami sighed with a smile. "She was the best. I just didn't know it at the time. See, she found me and Nojiko, that's my sister by the way, anyway she found us in a village that had been destroyed by pirates."

Law's free hand flexed into a fist and then released slowly. "What village?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I never thought to ask. Anyway, she found us and took us away from the fighting. I guess it was pretty bad. She put us on a boat and sailed us to her home town, Cocoyashi. We were all in pretty bad shape, but Doc fixed us up good. And when Bellemere, that's my mom, when she said she was keeping us, everyone about flipped out."

She laughed a little towards the end of her sentence. She noted that Law was watching her closely, looking a little dejected.

"She proved them wrong though," Nami grinned. "She gave up life as a Marine and raised me and Nojiko on the Mikan farm. It was good, but I was just a stupid little kid who didn't appreciate what she had."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean I didn't realize how much I loved her until she died," she answered, staring off at nothing. "I too thought that we weren't really family because we weren't related by blood. It was so stupid. The others in the village, they made me realize that she loved us no matter what, and I wanted to go to her and tell her I loved her too. But something happened."

She could feel her eyes filling with tears. "There are two hundred fifty eight islands in the East Blue. Eight thousand four hundred sixty one villages. And Arlong came to ours."

She sniffled and paused, knowing she wouldn't make it through the whole story. "Long story short, she died in place of us. Had her heart blown out of her chest. And the last thing she said to us was that she loved us."

Absently, she wiped at the tears that had started to fall.

"So when some jackass says you're not family because you're not blood related," she huffed, but Law put an arm around her shoulders to calm her. "Bullshit."

"She sounds great," Law told her. "She sounds pretty damn great."

Nami sniffled again. "What was your mom like?"

Law shrugged. "She was nice. Real nice. Always happy to see me, always loving. She was perfect."

"You said you had a sister," Nami recalled. "Younger than you. How young?"

"A baby," he told her. "Really young. Had just learned to roll onto her stomach. She smiled a lot and liked to blow spit bubbles."

"They died?" Nami guessed. Law looked at her for a long moment.

"They're gone," he said. "Tell me about your sister."

"Nojiko is older than me," Nami told him. "By about two years. She's the one who found me in the pirate attack. She said she found me by myself in a house, just crying."

Law's jaw tightened. "Just crying?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "She said there were lots of adults running around and that all of them just ran by the house while I cried. She went in to see if she could find me, and when she came out, all the adults were gone and there was lots of shooting and shouting going on."

Law sighed deeply. "Brave kid."

"Two years old and wandering around with a baby," Nami lamented. "I don't know how she did it. But she did. We fought a lot when we were young. That all ended when Bellemere died, though. Then she became my confidant. My best friend. My motivation."

"Why'd you leave her?" Law wondered.

"I don't know if I can explain it," she sighed. "See, Luffy saved me. But not just me. He saved everyone in my village. I know he did. Because we were all ready to die that day."

She trailed off, recalling all the painful moments of the day she'd asked for help.

"But he saved us," she repeated, as if to remind herself that the story had a happy ending. "And suddenly, we were free. All of us. We could do anything we wanted. And I really, really, wanted to go with him. I knew I did the moment he screamed out that I was his nakama."

She sighed again, but this time in content. "Nojiko stayed. I don't actually know if that's what she wanted to do, but I think she's happy with her decision. About two years ago, she got married. And the best thing of all was that I got to be there for it."

"But I saw you at Saboady Archipelago two years ago," he protested. "At the auction house."

"It was right before then," she agreed. "Luffy and I went on a little detour. It was kind of nice. I mean, I missed the rest of my nakama, but it was like having a five week vacation and my sister's wedding to top it all off."

Nami picked up a roll of bandages and began winding it around his hand. Law watched in silence, thinking about how well her life had turned out without him.

'Better off without me,' he thought to himself. 'Just like she's better off without him.'

"You still look pretty pale," Nami commented as she switched to bandaging his arm. "You sure you're okay?"

Law grunted noncommittally. Nami sighed, finishing her bandaging job. She rinsed off her hands in the water basin and sat back down next to him.

"Okay," she began. "Tell me what this is about. I want to know."

Law remained silent.

"I know you know," she insisted. "I want to know why he was after me. What he needed to say to me. Just tell me."

She wouldn't give up unless he told her _something_, Law knew. He settled on half-truths.

"I don't know exactly what he would have said," Law admitted, "but I believe he was going to ask you to join him."

"Join his crew?" Nami repeated, the incredulity in her voice. "Me? Why?"

Law sighed as if the answer were obvious. "If you went with him, wouldn't your Captain follow?"

Nami's incredulousness turned into a want of disbelief. "Luffy'd follow him if he asked. Why would he need me?"

"Would you go with him?" Law snapped. "If that idiot chose to follow the fuckin' Red Hair Pirates? Would you continue to follow him?"

It was a question that Nami didn't want to answer. Truth, she really did want to go with Luffy 'til the day she died. That wasn't conditional. But the idea of Luffy trekking off with Shanks while the rest of them were told 'get on board or go home' didn't sit well with her. This wasn't the journey they were supposed to make if they didn't make it together.

Would it be the same journey if the others weren't there? No. It wouldn't. The two years they'd all spent apart had proved it to them when they'd all returned to Sunny. For all of them, the journey was meant to be made together. But some of them, Zoro probably, maybe even Franky, Robin and Brooke, might not want to travel with the Red Hair Pirates.

"If the others did," she finally said, mostly because she knew he'd harass her until she answered. "I would go with if they did."

Even when she said it, Nami knew she was lying. She'd follow Luffy to the ends of the earth if it came down to it. Helping him to accomplish his dream in repayment for giving her dream back to her was her only goal in life now.

"Liar," Law accused. "You'd follow him anywhere. And likewise, he wouldn't let you go anywhere without him."

It felt like he was attacking her emotionally. She felt the sting of tears wanting to well in her eyes and was angered at them. Turning back to old habits, she snapped at him.

"What the hell do you care?" she cried. "That's what I don't get! Why? Why the hell do you give a damn? So what if he wants me to go with him? So what if Luffy follows?"

Agitated, Law got up from the infirmary bed and headed for the door. She was startled by the suddenness of his departure, but was determined to follow him. Law ducked in and out of hallways until he stopped in front of a door that looked similar to the dozen others he'd just passed.

He swung the door open and stepped in, placing his nodatchi on its stand. He looked a little surprised to see her standing in the doorway, as though no one had ever ventured to follow him into his room before.

"What?" he asked, watching her gaze across the room curiously.

"It's…small," she responded. "I kind of figured you'd have much bigger accommodations I guess."

"Not much room down here," he replied with a snort. "I take what I can get."

Nami nodded in understanding, stepping through the doorway into the room. There wasn't much space, truth be told, for either of them, so Law sat down on his bed to allow room for her. She pulled a full circle, gazing around at everything in the room at various things.

"What made you choose the nodatchi?" she asked, her gaze lingering on it for a moment.

"I'm tall and lanky," he shrugged. "It's tall and lanky. Seemed like a good match to me."

Instead of being irritated by his lackadaisical comment, Nami smiled lightly.

"I suppose," she chuckled. Her gaze fell onto one of his fur hats hanging on the wall of pegs. "Why do you wear fur?"

Law glanced at it too. "Well, it is a little cold down here. But in truth, I originally started wearing it because of Bepo. Having a friend that is a six foot tall polar bear is not usually something you can forget, but you do sometimes forget that he is covered in fur."

Nami looked at him now.

"He'd get hot so much faster than the rest of us," Law went on. "I started wearing it to see what it was like for him. I needed to understand how he felt, otherwise it'd be cruel to go tromping around tropical rain forests with a bear that would give himself heatstroke rather than express his own discomfort."

"You have a good friend," she smiled, resuming looking about the room.

"No," he disagreed. "I have a great friend."

Law saw that she was staring at something above him. He looked up reflexively and saw his family picture taped to the low ceiling. In a moment of panic, he reached up and snatched it down, shoving it roughly into his pocket. The navigator looked at him in confusion.

"A great friend who probably has a fix on your crew by now," Law continued, hoping to distract her from his odd behavior. He hoped it worked, watching her smile grow large. "Should we go up to the command deck and see?"

"That would be nice," Nami agreed.

.o0o.

Nami danced excitedly from foot to foot as DEATH slowly surfaced. Through the vibrations of the sub, she could feel the change in pressure of water on the hull as they rose closer to the surface. What she did not expect to feel, though, was a heavy _thunk_ come into contact with the upper hull.

Apparently Law hadn't expected it either.

"What the fuck was that?" he demanded of Jean Bart.

"Something heavy seems to have collided with the outer hull," he explained.

"No, not heavy," Nami corrected. "Strong."

Law realized what she meant when there was another loud _thunk_ followed by the sound of metal creaking.

"Shit!" Law cursed, heading up to the hatch. "They're trying to break in!"

"Luffy," Nami chuckled, heading for the hatch as well, followed behind Shachi and Penguin. "Not they; Luffy is trying to break in."

"He's going to breach us," Jean Bart complained. "Go control your idiot Captain!"

Nami gave him the finger as she walked out of the command deck. Up the rigging, closer to the upper hull, Nami could hear cursing and struggling.

"Damn it, would you just stop for a second?"

"Where is she!?"

"I'm here," Nami called, chuckling she climbed the rigging. "Calm down, Luffy."

When she made it up to hatch level, she saw that Luffy had climbed onto Law's back and was holding onto him in what looked like an attempt at Robin's clutch; a poor attempt. At the sight of her, Luffy let go of Law and dropped back down onto the floor and walked over to her.

He looked her over like she was a curiosity, even going so far as to lift her arms and turn her head from side to side to see that she was unharmed. Finally, Nami slapped his hands away in annoyance.

"Stop it, you dolt," she snapped.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking truly concerned.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Which you would have realized if you'd given us enough time to surface and for me to walk out myself. What did you expect? That Law would throw me out the hatch without surfacing and drown me? Yeah, that's a great idea."

Law saw that the look on Luffy's face clearly that it was exactly what he had thought. He also noticed that he looked properly shamed, though, the way his own crew had several days before.

"But you're okay?" he asked again, a little less enthusiastic this time.

"Yes, Luffy," Nami answered. "For the last time, I'm fine. We can go up to Sunny now if you're ready."

Luffy smiled wide at the proposal, and suddenly a new thought took hold of him. "Oi, Nami you have no idea how awful Sanji has been since you've been gone. Everything he's been cooking has been really, really sour. It's good, but it's sour."

"Well, you better not have eaten any of my mikans while I've been gone," Nami returned as they stepped out of the hatch and onto the hull. Law followed lazily and saw when he looked up that the rest of the Mugiwara crew were at the rail waiting expectantly.

"What a hassle," Zoro complained when he saw her, and retired from the rail.

"Shut up, shit-for-brains," Sanji cursed after him, and then looked down at them again. "Nami-swa~an! You look as beautiful and elegant as ever! I hope those curs of the Heart Pirates have been treating you well."

Nami laughed heartily. "Oh, you know. Kidnapping, threatening, useless shackling, drugging, chases through tropical forests, confrontations with powerful adversaries. Good times."

Luffy grew doe-eyed at her description.

"Why couldn't I come with?" Luffy whined. He punched Law in the shoulder grudgingly.

"Hey," Law returned, "it wasn't no fuckin' pleasure cruise for us, either. She tried to sink my sub, _twice_, she tried to drown me, and then, she tries to get me eaten by a fuckin' sea king. Oh, and not to mention she knocked out my first mate within five minutes of being here."

Luffy's laughs were the loudest among all of his crew. Franky thrust a huge metal fist in the air and hooted something about his 'lil sis. When the laughter died down, Luffy stretched an arm around Nami's waist and another up to the rail of Thousand Sunny.

And that quick, she was gone. Out of his sight. Law couldn't help but feel a slight loss, like she was being taken away from him again.

But it wasn't true. She may not be with him, but she was still alive, and that was all that mattered in the end.

He hated to admit it, even to himself, but it was probably for the best. Of all the people in the world, even pirates, that she could be with, that idiot Luffy and his crew were probably the most…well, suitable if the dents in the hatch were any indication.

"Hey! What are you doing down there?"

Law looked up to see Nami leaning over the rail again.

"You gonna just stand there all day, or are you and the idiots going to come up here and have a drink?" Nami asked, wearing a huge grin. Law fought not to return the smile and failed. Miserably.

"You're calling my crew idiots?" he returned. "Have you seen your Captain in action lately?"

**Epilogue**

After a superbly satisfying dinner, Law hated to admit of the pervert-cook, both crews were lounging about the grass-covered deck, half through their second barrel of ale together.

"Oi, oi, oi," Ussop called, already three sheets to the wind. "What's the deal, Law? Why did you steal our navigator anyway?"

Law leveled his gaze at the sharpshooter and Ussop turned tail, apparently not too drunk to realize that he should drop the subject and returned to the barrel for another mug of ale. But the subject had been brought up and Law saw from the looks on the faces of the other opposing crew, as well as some of his own, that the question was a popular one.

"First of all," he clarified, "I did not _steal_ her. I borrowed her."

That earned a barrage of laughter from the Mugiwaras.

"Does that include the two-hundred percent interest charge?" Zoro threw back. "That's the loan shark's usual charge for anything she does."

"Three hundred percent now," Nami called back at him, shooting him the finger. Zoro responded likewise with his own finger, but didn't goad any further. He instead became very interested in his mug of beer.

"They just needed a little help with something, that's all," Nami clarified, smirking at the Heart Pirates. A chorus of boos rung out from them. "Hey, hey, hey! I really did teach you assholes a lesson."

"In how to flood our submarine," Jean Bart muttered. "Thanks a lot."

Nami giggled at his look of annoyance. The subject wouldn't drop, though, and eventually the story of the sea king was eeked out of Shachi and Penguin. All of them laughed, but by far, Luffy was the loudest as he nodded his head in agreement and pointing at Nami.

Chopper looked up at Law in confusion. "So Nami gave you a swimming lesson?"

Everyone, including Law, laughed heartily at the comment. Chopper still didn't understand, though, and looked seriously at Law.

"You're a Devil Fruit user," Chopper chided Law. "You can't swim without floaties."

Hysteria threatened to take over all of them, but eventually, the laughter died down enough for Nami to clarify her purpose.

"No Chopper," Nami chuckled. "My lesson to them was a little more deep than that. It was one that I had to learn myself a few years ago."

Law noticed Nami gazing over at Luffy in a way that made him a little uncomfortable. She really couldn't, could she? Not him. Not the idiot…

"Back in the East Blue, before we came to the Grand Line," she began, "I had to learn an important lesson. The meaning of the word 'nakama.' That when you find your nakama, they will love with you, laugh with you, hurt with you, and die for you. Just like you would for them. And that's the promise we make to each other."

Luffy grinned and threw a 'thumbs up' her way. "Shi shi shi, yep."

"That still doesn't pay for our hatch door," Law interjected, ruining the moment. He did earn a couple of chuckles though.

"The price of services rendered," Nami shot back at him and began to giggle. "Anyway, I'm calling it a night, guys. Don't be too loud tonight or I'll come back up here and box your ears."

She made her way around the random clusters of people towards the door to the innards of the ship, pausing only when she got to Bepo to give him a huge hug. Funny how she'd never been afraid of him, even when she'd first met him at Sabaody Archipelago. It was as though she innately knew that the giant bear would never hurt her.

Law watched her go, acutely aware that this would probably be the last time he would see her again for awhile. The World Government was going to have a field day with his capturing a Mugiwara and then losing them again within three days, even if he had a run in with one of the Yonko Pirates.

"Take care of yourself, kid," he hastily threw out before she disappeared. He instantly felt a little dread. Was he showing too much attachment? Too much emotion? Would someone figure it out?

No. Nobody could figure it out. But still, it was a little embarrassing. He could tell by the round of hoots his crew was giving him.

"Cap'n's got the hots for the Mugiwara navigator!"

"Shut your filthy mouths!" Sanji yelled. "No one talks that way about my Nami-swan!"

After that, most of the drinking had come to an end. Partially because Sanji had come to physical blows with some of Law's crew, and partially because it seemed that almost all sanity had left the deck now. Law sighed and stood up.

"Alright guys, time to call it a night."

Gradually, they shuffled towards the rail to where DEATH was slowly plugging along next to them. A thought occurred to Law before he jumped down.

"Hey, where's your navigator?" Law asked suddenly.

"In her room, I would guess," Robin answered.

"Go get her. I need to tell her something."

More hoots and cat calls came from his crew.

"Shut up, you fuckers," he barked at them. "Get inside you lazy bastards."

Law leaned against the railing as he waited. After a few minutes, Nami reemerged looking a little distracted. No, not distracted. She looked disturbed. Like she had read something that had bothered her.

"Yes," she prompted him, managing to sound annoyed even through her perturbed expression. "What did you have to tell me that absolutely could not wait until the next _happy_ time that we meet?"

Law hesitated and turned back towards the sub.

"I'm already up here. You might as well tell me," Nami complained, stepping closer until she was right behind him. "What's wrong?"

"You've…never run across Mihawk, have you?" he stammered, trying to get it out.

Nami shook her head.

"Well—just in case," Law continued to stumble. "Steer clear of him."

"Any particular reason why?" she asked sounding completely bored.

"He's just—he's another one of those rat bastards," Law spit out in way of explanation. In truth, he just didn't want that creepy know-it-all anywhere near her anymore than he wanted the rat bastard there.

Law finally noticed that Nami hadn't said anything in response, and in fact looked a little ill as she stared at him. "What?"

"…Another rat bastard," she repeated. "Oh, no way…"

"What?" he asked again, more insistently.

Nami shook herself. "Uh, nothing, never mind. I'll steer clear of him."

Law knew she was trying to hide something from him, but he didn't know what. It had something to do with Mihawk, though. She hadn't freaked out until Law'd said his name. That and rat bastard. Too weird.

"Anyway," he said again. "Take care of yourself."

Without waiting for an answer, he hopped over the rail and down onto the hull of DEATH. When he looked up, Nami was looking over the railing at him, still with a worried expression on her face. She offered a small wave goodbye as he disappeared through the hatch and into DEATH.

Something he'd said had definitely spooked her. But he hadn't said anything about her being his sister, so there was no reason for her to suspect that. That couldn't have been what she was so perturbed about. It had to be something else. Something about Mihawk…and the rat bastard…

_'He said he's not your father,' Nami had said. 'But that he also knew who your father was because he was his enemy.' _

Mihawk had been there that day. The day the Goza Pirates had arrived on Nestral. But why would he have been there? Unless…

It felt like his insides were icing up with dread. Frantically, he plunged his hands into his pockets looking for the picture he'd had earlier that day. The one that he'd removed from the ceiling when Nami had been in his room. He'd put it in his right front pocket but for some reason, it wasn't there anymore. He patted around and found it in his left back pocket. When had it gotten there?

Ignoring that for the moment, he yanked it out of his pocket and smoothed some of the wrinkles that had occurred when he'd shoved it in. He stared down at himself, such a small boy in the picture as compared to now.

Tall for his age. Dark hair and dark eyes that had a slant to them. An angular jaw line.

Fuck. If he just grew a goatee, he'd be a dead ringer.

Fucking bastard son of a bitch!

END


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